Xocolatl
by unagi-chen
Summary: It was plain and clear in seven simple steps. Unfortunately, love isn't supposed to be that easy. -Oneshot-


Xocolatl

_I do not own Bleach._

Chocolate: 1) A snack made of roasted cacao seeds, and then flavored and sweetened. 2) A candy often given to one as a gift of love, affection or obligation. 3) The one thing in the world that Rukia hates.

…

_xXx How to make Chocolate xXx_

_Step One: Roast the cocoa beans…_

She first found out about Valentine's Day from Orihime, who showed Rukia the plans for her "awesomely-ultimate-absolutely-wonderful-chocolate". Frankly, Rukia didn't think Ichigo would be able to stomach the red-bean, butter filled, curry on top chocolate, but Orihime thought otherwise.

However, Rukia's competitive spirit flared, and she vowed to make the best chocolate the orange-haired idiot would get this year. She knew he loved chocolate, and knew how many girls would give some to him. The competition would be fierce, but she was sure she would stand on top in the end.

However, one problem stood in the way of her ultimate goal…

_Step Two: Crack and winnow the beans…_

Yuzu had been kind enough to buy the ingredients, and let her use the kitchen. Karin had found an easy recipe for Rukia to try. They both understood she wanted to do this, and respected her decision. She would be capable, so they would allow her to try.

_Crash!_

At least, they thought it was a good idea to let her.

"Uhh… Rukia-chan?" Yuzu cautiously looked into the kitchen. That crash didn't sound so good…

"Hey, Yuzu! No worries, I've got everything under control!" Rukia shouted from who-knows-where, and Yuzu flinched at the smell of something burning.

"Rukia, we roasted the beans already. And cracked them."

Silence. Yuzu heard the click of a stove. Then Rukia's smiling head popped into the door.

"Don't worry, I've got it all under control!" she grinned, and redirected Yuzu to the doorway. She and Karin would be going out to get some dishes for tonight's dinner, so that Rukia would have more time to make her chocolate.

"Y-You s-sure you don't n-need my help…" Yuzu stuttered. She didn't want to put down Rukia's morale, but she wasn't so sure if this was a good idea.

"No worries! I've done this plenty of times!" Yuzu wasn't so comforted by this statement. She was finding it hard to believe.

_Step 3: Grind the nibs into a cocoa liqueur__._

Rukia pushed both Karin and Yuzu out the door. Sighing, she sank to the floor, wiping her hand against her sweaty brow.

The truth was, Rukia had never cooked before. She didn't want to appear as a spoiled brat or whatnot, but the maids of the Kuchiki House always cooked for her. She didn't even know where the kitchen was!

Her eyes widened. _The kitchen!_ Running back, Rukia rushed over to her mixture. She was glad to see that most of the cocoa beans were still in there. She had tried mixing it, but now looking around realized that wasn't so smart. Yuzu had left a note on the counter, telling her how to turn the cocoa beans into actual chocolate.

She plugged in the machine that would make them into liquid. After a few tries, she managed to drop in a good amount of the cocoa beans. She turned on the machine, and as it whirled on, she squealed in delight at the sound of the churning of beans.

She watched with wide eyes at the spout. There was supposed to be chocolate goo flowing out, the actual substance that would be chocolate.

She watched and watched…

"Where is it?" she yelled, and slammed the machines top.

_Splat!_

Rukia opened one chocolate-lidded eye. It was all over her face, clothes, and the counter around her.

"There it is," she groaned, wiping at her face.

_Step 4: __Conch and refine the chocolate._

Clearing her face of all remaining chocolate goo, she was happy to see that the remainder was coming out in the proper way. It filled the bowl too the top.

Looking at the directions, she saw she had to "conch" and "refine". What the hell? On the side, Yuzu had added _Means to mix the rest of the ingredients_, which Rukia did. Thankfully, that went without hitch. Rukia sighed in relief. At least she could mix.

Looking back at the directions, she saw that "refining" was to grind. Rukia had no idea what either was. But grind… She suppose to grind you needed the grinder. They were similar in name, and by means of the Japanese language, they should be related. Shaking her head at her stupidity, she took the chance and poured the chocolate mix into the "grinder". Holding in her breath, she turned it on.

_Whirl, Whirl, Whirl._ Rukia breathed out. Nothing was coming out of the grinder that wasn't supposed too. She had managed up to this step without blowing up something. She could do this!

"Rukia?" She shrieked. That was Ichigo! She couldn't let him see this!

"Rukia! What's wrong?" she heard him racing to the kitchen. Quick! What to do, what to do!

"Hey Ichigo," the orange-haired boy turned at the voice of his smaller companion. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of the messy haired, apron-wearing girl, and took note of the chocolate all over her body. Not in a perverted way, but rather a "curious as to why" way.

"Uh… you all right?" he asked. She chuckled nervously.

"Yep! Everything is a-okay!" she lilted. He widened his eyes at this completely different Rukia. Normally, she would have cursed him out for asking, along with a head bashing of some sort. But instead, she was acting all happy-go-round, like she was hiding something.

"Uh… Okay?" he decided to drop it. Whatever it was, he didn't want to know. "But how long are you gonna be in the kitchen, cause I need to use-"

"For a while now leave!" she barked. She pushed him up the stairs amidst all his protest. Closing his bedroom door behind him, she ran back down. Too her horror, it had grinded too much, and now some was spilling over. She turned the machine off, and the machine stopped. She tasted the chocolate, and was glad it tasted good so far. Normally, this would take 10 hours or more, but with the newest technology, it speed the process up to under 30 minutes. She was glad too, she couldn't stand in front of this for more then an hour tops. She wasn't exactly known for her patience.

_Step 5: Temper the chocolate…_

She threw the recipe down. Again with the weird language! She wasn't sure what it was to temper chocolate! Sighing, she was glad to see Yuzu's helpful notes on the side. It said, _heat the chocolate and put it into the temper machine._

Heat the chocolate. **Heat** the chocolate. Great. She wasn't exactly oven-savvy.

Gulping, she poured the chocolate into an oven allowed bowl, labeled such by Yuzu. She was glad for the younger girls indirect help, cause without them she would have lost out three steps ago. She looked at the knobs.

Huh? Which one to turn? There was five, each labeled so similarly. Taking a chance, she turned the middle one. She felt heat come from the oven, and smiled with happiness that she had found the right one.

_**BAM!**_

_Step 6: Mold the chocolate and freeze…_

"Rukia!" Ichigo ran down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of the kitchen. Gulping in horror for what was to come when he opened the door, he braved it and pushed through.

He found Rukia on the floor, sitting in fetal position. Ichigo was glad to see nothing was wrong with her. Looking around, he saw the kitchen wasn't in any disaster, other then a mess on the counter.

"Hey, Rukia, what's wrong?" he asked, squatting down to Rukia's size. She didn't move.

"Go away," he heard her muffled voice. It sounded as if it were crying.

"Not until you tell me what's wro-" Rukia's foot connected with his stomach and he went flying back. Groaning, he cautiously approached her again, and was relieved to feel no attack coming.

"So?" he asked again. She lifted her head a little.

"I-I wanted to make you a ch-chocolate," she blubbered. Ichigo smiled at how cute Rukia was in this position.

"Stop laughing!" she screamed. She made to slap him, but he grabbed her arm before she could.

"So? Where is it?" he questioned. Her face narrowed and she growled.

"You makin' fun of _**ME**_?" she yelled. He chuckled and shook his head. Huffing, she pointed to the oven. It was then that Ichigo just realized it was smoking.

"Damn!" he opened it and coughed as a burst of smoke came out. He flipped the switch to 0 degrees, and waved the smoke out of the way.

"Happy Valentine's Day, _**jerk**_." Rukia spat. He grinned at the resentment in her voice. He could tell she really wanted to give this to him, whichever meaning it would be. However, by the looks of it, it didn't go as well.

Ichigo decided he would taste it. She had tried hard to make something for him, and he respected it.

They both stood there in silence. Rukia's face was set to a hard line, and Ichigo patiently waited for the oven to cool. When it did, he pulled out the still intact bowl. Inside was the smoothest, most creamy chocolate he'd ever seen. Never mind it was all over the inside of the oven too, or that it was seeping out of cracks in the bowl. He wasn't sure how this was messed up; it didn't look so wrong to him.

"This looks good," he murmured. Rukia's head jerked up.

"Don't taste it!" she shrieked. Too late. He put the spoon in his mouth and licked it clean.

Rukia held her breath in silence. Would he die? She hoped he didn't! Oh, it would be so horrible if he did! The Soul Society would no doubt be happy that he could finally become a full-fledged shinigami, but all his friends and family on earth would cry and be sad over his death and most likely blame her and vow to get revenge and…

"Rukia, breath," Rukia stopped in her inner monologue. She didn't realize she was hyperventilating, and took in two deep breaths. However, while her mouth was open, Ichigo stuck the spoon in.

"Try it." He ordered. She shook her head in refusal, but that ended when her tongue touched the chocolate. She nearly fainted with delight.

It was sweet and creamy, rich and thick with flavor. After she swallowed, she felt a bitter but pleasing aftertaste in her mouth.

"W-wow," was all she could say after she opened her mouth. He smiled, but that turned to a frown at the rest of the bowl.

"I think there's only enough left for one more," he sighed, and Rukia's face dropped to a pout.

"Well, there goes the rest of your Valentine's day gift," she muttered, her eyes casted down. Ichigo appeared thoughtful for a second, and then raced out of the room. Rukia watched with confusion as he reappeared with a bag from the local convenience store. Pulling out two items, her eyes widened as he pulled a box of chocolate brownie mix and a jar of Nutella out.

"Why don't we make it together instead, how about that." He smiled again. Realizing what he meant, Rukia squealed with delight as she reached for the box.

_Step 7: Remove the hardened chocolate from the molds and enjoy!_

"Ichi-nii? Rukia-chan?" Yuzu ran into the kitchen fearing the worst. When she stepped in the house, she smelled a lingering burning sensation. Worried, her first stop was the kitchen to make sure her brother and his friend were still living.

She saw Ichigo standing at the oven but before she could run to him, he turned and shushed her. He pointed to the kitchen table. Yuzu turned and her worried face smiled at the sleeping Rukia, her head resting on the smooth oak mahogany. In front of her was a plate. On it, a small chocolate heart, shaped to perfection.

…

"Ahhh…" Orihime sighed as she finished the crumbly and fluffy chocolate cake. "Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san, this is good!"

"Thanks," the two of them replied simultaneously. After successfully making chocolate brownies, and even adding a layer of chocolate in between, they brought it to school to share with their friends.

"Ah, yours was so nice, mine didn't come out so good." She sighed, eyeing Ichigo's pile of chocolate jealously. As Rukia had predicted, it was growing by the second as girls came up cautiously to add their love token to the pile. Orihime's was somewhere on the bottom. She had settled for a simple and normal-to everyone's relief- box of chocolate, which she had bought from the store in the morning.

Rukia smiled at Ichigo's annoyed face. As much as he loved chocolate, seeing a tower of heart shaped sweets was enough to make anyone sick of the sweet candy.

"Are you gonna eat that Kurosaki?" Ishida muttered. His pile was hardly anything to match. Ichigo smirked at his jealously.

"Nah, I already had the best chocolate I could have this year. None of this could hold a candle to that one." He gave a sideways glance to Rukia whose eyes widened.

Did he mean?

She felt a smile coming, and blushed as Ichigo patted her on the head. She had come out on top! Ichigo loved her chocolate!

"Ah, screw this," Ichigo muttered. He took the top box, and opening it, distributed the contents to everyone in their group. As the homemade brownies were all eaten, they took it with graciousness, and the sounds of enjoyment rang in the air as they all savored the bittersweet chocolate. Rukia joined in, smiling at how yummy it was.

"Isn't it good?" Ichigo smiled down at her. Returning the gaze, Rukia was shocked to realize his eyes were the same color as the chocolate in her mouth. The warmth in them couldn't compare to the sweet delicacy in her mouth.

"Don't you love chocolate?" he asked. She nodded vigorously.

Damn straight, she liked chocolate now. Hell, she _loved_ it.

…

So cute! I wanted to do a Fairy Tail FF for Valentine's Day, but I didn't finish it in time. Oh well, next year I suppose.

I got the steps from http:/ www. Wikihow. Com/ Make-Chocolate (no spaces) Of course, I simplified it so it would fit this story.

"Xocolatl" means Chocolate in Aztec or something. IDK, I just remembered a chapter in VK titled St. Xocolatl day, and I liked the sound of it.

Originally posted for the IchiRuki-Club on DeviantArt competition. I didn't win...

OMG, I love the term bittersweet now… and it totally relates to chocolate!

I want chocolate now…

~~~EeLgIrL (^.^)


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